


Teresa, Warrior in Training

by ThaliaGrace318



Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Big brother Lincoln, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherly Love, Grounder Culture, Grounder Octavia Blake, Lincoln has siblings, Lincoln's little sister, Little Sisters, Other, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry, Twins, Warrior In Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-05-28 19:39:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15056327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThaliaGrace318/pseuds/ThaliaGrace318
Summary: Teresa, a young member of the Woods Clan, longs to be a warrior and a scout like her older brother, Lincoln. She gets her chance when strangers fall from the sky to land in her Clan's backyard. What will happen now that the Sky People have landed, and Teresa is sent with her brother Lincoln to keep watch on the strangers?





	1. Chapter 1

# 1\. They’re back

Teresa crept forward on silent feet, keeping her eyes trained on her prey grazing peacefully in the clearing ahead. Her leather boots absorbed any sound she might have made. A fur lined hood held back her curly brown hair, and the ash covering her hands and face disguised her scent and made her brown skin even darker.

Blind in the third eye on the side of its head, the deer would be an easy kill as she approached on its blind side from downwind, stepping lightly with an arrow fitted to her bow. Its soft brown coat was ruffled by the breeze as it chewed contentedly on the dew-covered grass, blissfully unaware of her presence and its approaching death. She had been lucky to spot the deer's tracks in the dried mud by the stream and had been tracking it for hours. Bringing it down would be good for the village – there had been fewer than was usual this season. Once she killed it she may need help to bring it in, but her brother's home away from the village was near enough. He would help her, and not take credit for the kill himself as other hunters older than her might do.

Confident in her position the young hunter took aim, drawing back her bowstring. She could make it a clean shot, put her arrow through its eye. If that did not kill it then she would finish it with her knife and end its pain quickly. As she was about to let her arrow fly, a roar like thunder filled the air, a sound so loud that it felt like a real physical presence pressing down on her from above. Her arrow flew off course past the deer which took off at a gallop from the unexpected disturbance. She watched it disappear and then looked up to see that the top branches of the trees shook, and beyond that, something falling from the sky. Something…she didn't know what.

Teresa pulled back her hood and raised her mask while staring up at the sky, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. She had seen shooting stars before, but this was something else. Forgetting her annoyance at losing her kill, she quickly slung her bow over her shoulder and climbed up the nearest tree for a better view. Perched with well-practiced balance on one of the slender branches near the tree top, but still under the cover of the canopy, she stared up in shock as the thing came down. Whatever it was it was big, covered in red and orange flames and was coming down fast! More flames erupted from the bottom of it as it drew nearer and slowed just a few moments before hitting the ground less than half a mile from her, sending a tremor through the forest that she was sure would be felt for miles.

The young warrior kept a firm grip on her perch as the tree shook and swayed from the impact. It felt like an earthquake, but this…this was something far more interesting. Every village in the mountains would have seen this monstrosity falling from the sky. She knew that she should keep her distance, head back to her village to find out what their leader's orders were. After all, she was not a scout, at least not yet. But whatever that thing was she wanted to see it for herself. Using the trees, moving swiftly from branch to branch, she made her way to where the thing had crashed. She moved more cautiously as she drew near, and the smell of burned wood and something else she couldn't name permeated the air, burning her nose and leaving a bad taste in the back of her throat.

The object had landed in a clearing. The ground around it was scorched, the grass and shrubs burned away. Broken trees lay scattered where they had fallen, smoke curling off of them. The thing that had caused the damage stood not as tall as the highest trees but still imposing in a place where it clearly did not belong. It was large, bulky and made of metal from the look of it, the glint of the sunlight reflected off the surface giving off a harsh glare. It was some kind of machine.

The forest seemed to hold its breath, not yet settled from this intrusion that had come crashing down. There was no sound or movement from the machine. Teresa decided to wait near the edge of the clearing where she could watch and still be out of sight.

And she was aware that she was not the only one watching. Glancing to her left she caught a glimpse of a figure moving through the branches of the trees – her brother, Lincoln. She had only seen a glimpse but she knew that it was him, she knew how he moved. That was confirmed when he came closer and silently signaled for her to stay low and keep quiet. Teresa was glad that he didn't try to send her away, and she wasn't surprised that he had come to investigate himself. Her brother was a scout for their Clan. He'd taught her how to move through the trees without stirring a leaf. She put her mask back into place and pulled her hood up. Taking care to make sure that even her breathing was quiet, she waited and watched to see what would happen.

She did not have to wait too long as the metal beast gave a loud groan and with a hiss, part of it unfolded and thudded to the ground, making an opening. Putting a hand to her knife, she took a calming breath to prepare for whatever was coming. She was prepared to fight if she had to, or to run, to warn the Clan if the appearance of this thing was some kind of new threat. But what she saw inside the machine – she didn’t know yet if it was a threat...but it was certainly unexpected. She’d heard stories before about _Praimfaya,_ the Great Fire that ended the world a hundred years ago, and the people who had escaped by going to the stars, but she’d never given stories about Sky-People much thought…until now.

Because now the young warrior could see that there were people inside the machine, this ship that had fallen from the sky. People who appeared as shocked at what they were seeing as she was. Those that stood in the doorway were staring around with open mouths and expressions that could only be described as wonder, amazement, awe...

One of them, a girl with smooth pale skin and straight brown hair, broke from the pack and stepped forward. Standing in front of the others, the sky-girl paused to draw in a deep breath, and a smile broke out across her face.

Teresa took her eyes off the girl for a moment to look to her brother. He had his book out and was drawing something in it, his eyes barely going to the page as he watched the strangers.

Looking back at the strange ship, she saw that the sky-girl was walking forward cautiously as her people behind her stood watching. She paused again before taking the last step off of the part of the ship that had opened, onto the ground. Her grin stretched wider as she looked up to the sky. Reaching her arms up the sky-girl screamed out, “We’re Back Bitches!”

Her shout cut through the silence. Teresa was surprised to understand the sky-girl’s words but didn’t have time to think on it as the rest of her people came pouring out of their ship, shouting and running in every direction. They were celebrating, excited, triumphant…loud and arrogant. She smirked as she watched them. What did they think they had won?

One of the strangers ran right beneath her hiding place, going off into the woods while another girl called after her, “Emily, wait!” The girl kept running, ignoring her friend, her smooth black hair trailed behind her as she ran. The other girl stopped, close enough for Teresa to hear her speaking with a dark-skinned boy who came up. If she hadn’t been sure, she was now – the strangers were speaking _Gonasleng_ , the enemy’s language. Teresa knew English well enough, though she’d rarely had reason to speak it herself. The boy told his friend to stay there while he went to bring back the girl who had run off.

Teresa tried to get a count on how many Sky-People had come out of the ship but they were scattered now, spreading out, still jumping around, shouting and chattering excitedly. They were in territory that was not theirs and yet they were behaving like untried children! These people clearly knew nothing. They made no effort to watch for possible dangers. Their noise would scare off any prey in the area, and they would be lucky not to attract predators, or worse.

Where did these strangers come from? Why had they come here? If they expected to take Woods Clan territory, then they had made a grave mistake. The leader of their Clan certainly wouldn’t allow it. Word would most likely be sent to the Commander as soon as scouts returned to the village with a report. The Sky-People wore strange clothes, and none of them stood out as warriors. They acted like children now, but if they were a danger to her people then they would be dealt with like any other, Teresa was sure of it.

Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, Teresa looked to her brother again and saw that Lincoln was signaling for them to leave. She knew he was right. They did not want to make their presence known to these invaders and they should retreat further while the strangers were too distracted by their excitement to notice any movement in the trees, not that they were looking. But still, she wanted to stay and watch, to see what she could learn. She was not a scout yet, but she would be soon. Perhaps this would be her chance. She hoped so – people who fell from the sky… This was unlike anything they’d seen before.

Teresa pulled herself away, climbing higher to be less visible in the shadow of the canopy and moving away from the strange ship and the invaders it carried.

* * *

Teresa came down from the trees only when the Sky-People and their crashed ship were far behind her. She had not been seen nor had she left any trace, though she knew that her brother had been monitoring her movements for the first few miles after they left the strangers to make sure of it. Now Lincoln was already on the ground walking ahead of her. He looked back at her as she caught up with him. Teresa pushed back her hood and they kept moving together towards their village, Tondc.

 _“What do you think this means Lincoln?”_ she asked her brother excitedly, speaking the Clan’s language, _Trigedasleng_.

“Speak English,” Lincoln said in _Gonasleng_ , wanting her to practice the second language.

“Where did those people come from? Why are they here? Who are they?” Teresa continued in English. Though her accent was thick with the strange words on her tongue, how well she’d learned the language was shown by the fact that she didn’t trip over her words as she fired off her questions.

Lincoln was used to his little sister’s rapid questions and waited until she was finished before answering, “I don't know, but we will find out.”

He meant that scouts, like him, would be sent to find out. Teresa was a warrior, still in training yes, but she wanted to be a scout as well, like her brother. If for no other reason than that scouts were allowed to go places that were usually forbidden, to see their enemies up close, and were highly valued for the information that they could gather.

The sun was at its highest as they drew near to the village gate and they were joined by another scout, Penn. One look told them that he'd seen the ship too, and the Sky-People. They did not stop to speak as they hurried on their way to bring the news home. Coming into the village, Teresa saw that many people had abandoned their usual tasks, no doubt having seen the ship fall from the sky and were waiting for answers. They had barely set foot through the gate before they were swarmed by villagers, some worried or anxious, asking what they had seen out in the woods. Within the village they all spoke _Trigedasleng_ , the language of the tribe.

 _“Don’t you all have better things to do?”_ A gruff voice rose above the excited and anxious questioning as Nyko, the village healers, cut a path through the crowd. He shooed people back to their own tasks before speaking to the two scouts. Nyko didn’t bother with questions; he would hear what was to be said soon enough. “Indra wants news, best not to keep her waiting.”

Teresa looked to the village’s meeting hall where their leader, Indra, was speaking with Anya, her second in command and one of _Trikru’s_ highest war chiefs. Their conversation seemed intense but when she saw that two of their best scouts had returned, Indra cut off whatever Anya was saying. She nodded at them to follow and proceeded into the hall. Anya shot a look at them before following Indra, her young apprentice Tris in toe.

“Anya does not look happy,” Teresa commented.

“Does she ever?” said Lincoln.

Lincoln and Penn went on ahead to the meeting place to report what they had seen. Teresa moved to follow, but found her path blocked by Nyko. “No, Teresa.”

“But I saw that thing too,” she protested. “It was some kind of ship.”

“ _Hod yu rein daun!_ (Mind your place!)” Nyko said sharply. He ruffled her hair to soften his words. “Did you find what I asked of you?”

“ _Sha, Fisa_ (Yes, Healer).”

Suddenly remembering why she had gone out this morning before first light, Teresa reached into her bag and pulled out the bundles of herbs she had collected before finding the deer’s tracks. She handed them to Nyko, who seemed pleased. Teresa smiled. She liked helping Nyko and later he would show her how to cut the herbs that she’d gathered and mix them into medicines that could be used to save a life, or poisons that could take life. But that was for later.

As Teresa walked towards her hut, someone fell into a familiar step beside her.

“You left before I woke. Where’d you go?” asked Benjamin.

“I was doing a favour for Nyko,” she explained.

The other young warriors would have had training from early morning to high noon, but Teresa was occasionally pardoned from training to assist or learn from Nyko. As a _Fisa_ , a healer, his word carried weight, and he had told her before that she had the potential to be a healer herself. If she could ever stay in one place long enough to learn anything.

“Too bad,” Benjamin continued. “Artigas was saying that he would beat you in practice for sure today.”

“Not likely!” Teresa objected.

Benjamin laughed softly at her competitive outburst and looked at Teresa with eyes identical to hers, the same dark brown that was common to their family. Lincoln had those eyes as well. Right now, despite the very strange occurrence today, Benjamin’s eyes were soft with just a hint of mischief, while Teresa’s were sharp, looking for a challenge.

They stepped into the hut that they shared. It was a smallish structure made from wood and sheets of salvaged metal with windows cut into the back wall that let the light spill in and made the place seem roomier. Several large, beautifully crafted lanterns provided sufficient light at night. Those, as well as the water jugs and some finely crafted dish settings on a shelf near the door, had all been sculpted by their eldest sister, Michonne, and left traces of her presence even though she had not lived there for some time.

On another shelf were odd little trinkets: a small doll, a wooden soldier, a well-used toy hammer. Organized neatly on a bench were a series of tools and various pieces of metal – Benjamin’s work area where he liked to tinker.

There was also a table beneath one of the windows with a bowl of clear water resting on it and three cots. Two of the cots were covered in soft fur blankets. One was conspicuously bare.

Teresa set her bag down next to the cot that was hers and pulled off her hooded coat, letting her dark braided hair fall loose. Under her coat she wore a wide necked netted shirt over a gray tank top that clung to her slender frame. The black tattoos on her arms stood out against her light brown skin. She moved over to the table by the window, pulled off her wrist- and finger-guards that every archer wore and set them on the table before washing her hands in the bowl. She scooped up water to wash her face, cleaning off the ash that she had used to hide her scent while she hunted.

“Catch anything while you were doing that ‘favour’?” Benjamin asked.

“No.”

She ignored his slightly sarcastic tone. It was true, she’d started out this morning doing a favour for Nyko…she just got sidetracked along the way. And then a metal ship came falling out of the sky. She was still trying to wrap her mind around it.

But what Benjamin was hinting at was that she’d been doing this more and more lately, finding reasons to go out alone, without their friends. Without him, even though he was the better tracker. If he had been with her this morning they probably would have found the deer a lot sooner, before that ship came crashing down scaring off all the game in the area.

The brother and sister were very different, always had been, always would be. But despite their differences, Benjamin was her other half. They had been born together. They had grown together, played together, trained together and fought together. Teresa turned to face him but her eyes landed on the empty cot pushed up against the wall. After their older sisters had left, the twins always said that they would live or die together, that they would not leave each other.

Benjamin knew her though. Teresa was restless, and sometimes she just needed to be on her own. He needed no apology for that. As they left the hut Teresa wondered why Benjamin had not asked about the strange ship that everyone else was so anxious to know about.

* * *

 

Now she knew why he hadn’t brought it up.

She’d missed morning training, but their friends Terra and Artigas were still taking practice shots when Teresa and Benjamin joined them. While Benjamin preferred a knife, the bow was Teresa’s best weapon. A good weapon is the difference between life and death, whether in hunting or in battle, and so all young warriors were taught very early on to care for their weapons. She took special care of her bow, her prized possession, oiling it in the evenings to keep the wood supple and strong. Michonne had helped her make it before she left the tribe years ago. She had taken the time to help Teresa carve and shape the wood for the best effect so that it was both flexible and durable.

As they walked up, Teresa did not even have the chance to greet her friends before they bombarded her with questions.

“Teri, you saw that thing?” asked Terra.

“What was it? We felt it hit from here,” asked Artigas.

“It was some kind of metal ship,” Teresa told them. “There were people inside of it.”

“What!” Artigas exclaimed, “People from the sky?”

“How many?” Terra asked.

“I’m not sure, about a unit’s worth, maybe less.” A unit of warriors could be one hundred to one hundred and fifty. “But they didn’t look like warriors,” Teresa added remembering the indiscipline of the strangers. “They acted like children.”

“And what are you?” They turned to see Lincoln standing at the edge of the training area. Lincoln nodded to them and gestured for Teresa to follow him. “Just Teri,” he said when Benjamin moved to follow him as well.

Benjamin shrugged and turned back to his sister. “You are his favorite,” he teased.

“That is only because Senshi is not here,” she said, thinking how close Lincoln and their sister Senshi had been before she left to join the Rangers.

She caught up with Lincoln who was already walking away from the training area and going towards the center of the village. “What did they say?” she asked. “Did Anya and Indra decide anything? What are they doing about the sky people?”

“Indra is sending her fastest rider to inform the Commander of what we saw,” Lincoln replied. “And she wants more information on the strangers as soon as possible.”

“What if they are a danger to us?” Teri asked. “What if they came to take our land?”

Teresa remembered years back when raiders from across the desert known as the Dead Zone had come to the mountains looking for land that they could claim. They had raided several villages at the edge of the Clan’s territory, killing the innocent and stealing whatever they could before warriors were sent in force to stop them. By the end of it, the invaders had been nearly wiped out. Those that survived and were not captured had scrambled back to their desert. Those that had been taken prisoner had been made to suffer the Death by a Thousand Cuts. That had been her first real battle with outsiders.

Teresa had fought beside Lincoln in that battle, while Benjamin had fought beside their eldest sister Michonne. The twins had both earned their first marks, the small scars burned into her shoulder blade that marked kills made in combat. She felt a phantom itch from those scars now as she remembered, though the actual pain was years past. Teresa had been very young, but had not cried out as the hot metal sizzling against her skin and sharp, hot pain shot through her when the marks had been made. Instead she’d gritted her teeth and endured it in silence as they’d been trained to. It was the price they paid for taking life, even the life of an enemy. If death has no cost, then life has no worth. That is the way they lived. And a warrior’s marks were worn with pride – they showed that she had fought and killed to protect her people.

“We don’t know yet what these strangers are.” Lincoln’s voice pulled her back from her memories. “For now, we’re not to have any contact with them. We’re to keep watch and learn what we can.”

“Good luck,” Teri said wistfully.

“I said we,” Lincoln stated. Teresa looked up at him in surprise. “I spoke with Anya.” She broke into grin at his next words, “You’re coming with me.”

Teresa was grateful that her big brother would speak for her, and a little surprised by it too. The decisions that their leaders made were often decided by the information given to them by scouts. It meant he thought she could do this task, and do it well. Lincoln could see that she was excited by this, and he knew his little sister very well.

“We’re not to be seen by the strangers. Your job it to watch, report back-”

“I can do that,” she said eagerly.

“-And do as you’re told.”

“I can do that…mostly.”

* * *

 

Teresa lay stretched out flat against a branch overlooking the Sky-People’s camp. It was a cloudy night, which provided good cover. Moving quickly, she had gotten back to the spot where their ship had crashed just after dark, and now she watched as they gathered around a bonfire. She’d seen them struggling to light the fire – a task that would have taken minutes for her had taken over an hour for them – and they seemed so pleased with themselves when they finally got it lit. She’d heard them exclaim in wonder as the fire built up and the red orange flames rose higher. Some of them, overexcited, kept adding more wood to the fire, until someone had the good sense to stop them before it got out of control.

Had they never seen fire before? Maybe not if they had no trees for wood. But then how did they stay warm, or cook their food? What did Sky-People have for food? Did they have animals in their homes in the sky – what was the word – space stations? It didn’t look like they had brought any food with them. The smell of the wood smoke curled up to the trees, but when the wind wafted towards her, there was no scent of anything cooking on the fire.

A thousand questions had been going through her head all day about these strangers in her land. Most importantly: who are they, who sent them, and why? Why would Sky-People come down here now?

Shouts going up around their bonfire brought her attention back from her musing. Teresa was grateful for her dark clothes that blended with the trees and the shadows as she moved closer through the branches, getting as close to the stranger’s camp as she dared.

The Sky-People around the fire were cheering and chanting, “Whatever the hell we want!” She wondered what that was about, when suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the clearing, followed a few seconds later by a loud crash of thunder overhead. Someone screamed. Teresa tensed for a moment, but none of the Sky-People had seen her in the lightning flash. They were too preoccupied with the rain that started to pour from the sky. As the first drops started to fall the Sky-People started shouting.

“What is that?!”

“Rain! It’s raining!”

Some sounded afraid. Some were amazed. Teresa saw one girl franticly brushing rain drops off her skin like she was afraid they would burn her. Teresa stifled a laugh. It was like they had never seen rain before. She supposed that they hadn’t, living above the clouds. Where did they get their water from then, in a place where it never rained?

Teresa pulled her hood up. The rain that reached her through the branches of the trees rolled off the leather of her coat, and the fur lining kept her warm. She peered towards the bonfire again. Most of the Sky-People were jumping around excitedly, lifting their hands to the sky, enjoying the rain.

One of them was walking away from the crowd. A dark-skinned boy, tall, with short hair – she remembered seeing him when they first came out of the ship. He wasn’t celebrating. She followed him with her eyes until he went back into their ship, then she settled into place to continue watching.

* * *

 

Later, after the rain had passed and the sky cleared, Teresa moved through the trees, circling the camp. Now that the Sky-People were asleep, no longer scattered, she could get a better count of how many there were. She’d circled the whole camp without touching the ground, and she’d been right before that there was about a unit’s worth of the Sky-People, about 100.

She was considering what that might mean, that there was a unit’s worth of them, but that they were clearly not warriors. They lacked restraint and discipline. Teresa smiled, thinking how often her brother might have said the same thing about her. Most of them were around the same age as her – even if they were to be warrior, they would only be apprentices, though she doubted that they were even that.

 _Disha kru nou ste gona_ (These people are not warriors), Teresa thought.

Why would their people send them here alone? For what purpose? Would more of them be coming?

Hearing footsteps approaching, loud heavy footfalls that could never belong to any _Trikru_ , Teresa pulled back into the shadows. Two _Skaikru_ passed beneath her hiding place, a boy and a girl. They must have been out walking. Had she counted them already? Teresa shifted to get a better look, and the branch creaked. She froze, still hidden by shadows.

The sky-girl looked up into the tree, squinting into the dark. The boy looked back at her. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.

The girl’s eyes flickered to him and then back into the boughs of the tree. “I thought I just saw…” she hesitated. Shaking her head, she turned away, “Never mind.”

“Come on, it’s late,” the boy said, taking her hand and leading her away.

Teresa sighed. She would need to be more careful. It would not do to be spotted by these strangers. She’d heard many horror stories of what happened to other scouts who’d been caught spying on their enemies. Though it wasn’t the Sky-People she feared more. Her leader had ordered that they have no contact with the invaders for now. Being compromised on her first mission, even if she were not captured by the enemy, would ensure that it was her last.

* * *

 

**Translations:**

_Praimfaya_ – The Great Fire; The nuclear apocalypse that ended the world

 _Gonasleng_ – English; The enemy’s language

 _Trigedasleng_ – The Clan’s language

 _Hod yu rein daun!_ – Mind your place!

 _Sha, Fisa_ – Yes, Healer

 _Trikru_ – Tree-People/Tree-Person/Woods Clan

 _Skaikru_ – Sky-People/Sky-Person

 _Disha kru nou ste gona_ – These people are not warriors

* * *

 

 


	2. Life's Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teresa learns more about the Sky-People while following them, how they are so very different and in some wahys the same

“…THE GROUNDERS SHOULD WORRY ABOUT US!”

 _That one likes to make noise_ , Teresa thought as she listened in on the strangers from above. The dark-haired man that made that statement and who they were now cheering on seemed to be their leader. Bellamy, they called him – she stored that bit of information away for later. _I could shoot him from here, that would shut him up_ , she thought with a smirk. _It would shut them all up_. Just as when they’d first landed, her assessment of these Sky-People was that they were loud and arrogant.

Not all of the Sky-People followed the one called Bellamy though, from what Teresa could see. The blonde girl who’d come back into their camp telling them that ‘grounders’ had taken one of their scouting party was now stalking away from him angrily. No love lost there. In her village, anyone who spoke with such disrespect to their leader as that girl had would be punished. But nobody stopped her from walking away.

These _Skaikru_ were very different from the _Trigedakru_. Even the way they spoke – not just the language, but the words. Like ‘Grounder’. To Teresa, that word was unfamiliar. She supposed from their point of view the word fit, though she’d never thought of herself like that. Then again, the Sky-People probably didn’t think of themselves as ‘Sky-People’. Why would they when they’d never had other people to compare themselves to?

Teresa continued to watch the strangers with curiosity. Her coat, hood and mask hid her well in the trees, and she was high enough that she wasn’t too worried about being spotted. Something she’d discovered about these people: they didn’t know to look up.

All the better for her. It made her job that much easier.

* * *

 

Teresa kept pace with the small group of Sky-People who’d left their camp to look for the boy who’d been taken. The strangers from the sky moved noisily through the wood. Heavy footfalls, broken branches, and their constant chatter… Didn’t they know to be vigilant in unfamiliar lands? They left a trail that would have been easy for even inexperienced hunters to follow and left themselves open to attack, whether from enemy warriors or the predators of the forest.

They were being led by the blonde girl who’d challenged their leader earlier, though the leader, Bellamy, was there with her as well.

As they’d moved through the forest looking for their missing friend, Teresa had heard them talking about Mount Weather – that’s where they’d been trying to go when their friend was attacked. And it was no wonder that her people had stopped the strangers form crossing the river at the edge of the Mountain. Teresa suppressed a shudder. Just the thought of the clan’s dreaded enemies within the Mountain stirred up an unpleasant mix of fear and rage that left a cold pit in her stomach. Mount Weather cast a shadow over all who lived beneath it; nothing but death came from that place. Death…or worse.

If the Sky-People were trying to join the Mountain Men then they were enemies of the Woods Clan, of all the Clans, and a danger to her people.

But…it didn’t make sense, not with how surprised they’d seemed to learn that her people were here. If they didn’t know about her people, did that mean that they didn’t know about the Mountain Men either? Teresa shook her head. She had too many questions about these invaders and not enough answers. And finally given the chance to be a scout, it was her job now to find answers.

Teresa brought her focus back to the strangers she was following. The blonde girl stayed close to a long-haired boy who was examining the trail ahead of them. He at least seemed to know what he was doing as he tracked the warriors who’d taken their lost friend.

“How do we know this is the right way?” one of the other boys asked with an unpleasant scowl on his face. Teresa had heard the leader say his name before, back at their camp: Murphy. Strange name.

“We don’t,” Bellamy answered him, “Spacewalker thinks he’s a tracker.”

 _Spacewalker?_ Teresa thought, looking to the long-haired boy again. It wasn’t a name. She wondered what it meant, why he was called that. She liked the way it sounded though. _What’s a…spacewalk?_

“It’s called cutting sign. Fourth Year Earth Skills. He’s good,” another boy answered.

The blonde girl had called him Wells when she’d come back into their camp that morning. Teresa saw that he was the tall dark-skinned boy that she’d seen walking away from the fire last night after the rain. Unlike the other Sky-People who’d celebrated the rain, he’d looked upset then. And he looked upset now as he watched the tracker – the one they called Spacewalker – show the blonde girl where the trail led. Wells looked even more upset when Bellamy stepped closer and said something to him that Teresa couldn’t hear.

Suddenly, the Sky-People all came to attention as a loud groan sounded through the trees. They moved ahead to investigate the sound. Teresa followed at a safe distance, keeping a cover of trees between her and them. She hung back as they came to a clearing half-filled with tall grass with groups of spikes jutting out of the ground.

Teresa heard the blonde sky-girl gasp as she saw what was tied up in the tree in the middle of the clearing. “Oh my God! Jasper!”

“What the hell is this?” Bellamy asked as they moved forward towards their friend.

Teresa knew what it was, and she rolled her eyes at their recklessness in moving forward without taking more care. The missing sky-boy, Jasper, had been set out as bait in a trap. Recognizing the set-up, Teresa quickly found a sturdy tree to climb. She did not want to be close to the ground if the real target for this trap was near.

As she climbed she heard shouts from the sky-people as one of them slid into the pit trap that had been dug and well hidden beneath the tree where the injured boy was tied.

“Clarke!” So that was the girl’s name. Good to finally know. “Pull her up! Get her up!”

Teresa peered out through the branches of the tree in time to see them pull the blonde girl, Clarke, out of the trap. She was lucky. If they hadn’t caught her she would have been impaled on the spikes at the bottom of the pit. Once the girl was back on solid ground, they turned their attention to getting their friend out of the tree. Two of them climbed up to cut him down while the others waited below.

“There’s a poultice on his wound,” said Clarke.

“Medicine?” said Wells, “Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?”

Teresa tried to look more closely at the boy called Jasper. She was could not see his face clearly, but she could see the wound in his chest. It looked close to his heart. Teresa could also see the green paste that covered his wound. Nyko had taught her how to make such poultices that helped to clean a wound and stave off infection. As a healer, she felt a pang of sympathy for the boy. It was a wonder he’d survived.

The Sky-People were still talking.

“Maybe what they’re trying to catch likes its dinner to be breathing.”

“Maybe what they’re trying to catch is us.”

The trap hadn’t been set for Sky-People though. Teresa knew that it had been set for the panther that had been hunting nearer and nearer to the village in the last few months. Two days ago, it had taken a young child who’d wondered away from his mother when they were out by the stream. The sky-boy, since he’d survived the spear to the chest, was just convenient bait since the panther had developed a taste for human meat.

Speaking of the panther… A chill went up Teresa’s spine as a low growl vibrated through the nearby trees. What happened next happened fast.

There was a roar as the panther charged. A shout (“Bellamy gun!”) and then gunshots being fired.

Teresa recoiled as the shots rang out, but still kept her eyes on the scene beneath her. It wasn’t Bellamy shooting, but Wells. He pulled Clarke behind him as he shot at the panther. Teresa saw the panther collapse mid-leap as the last shot echoed through the trees.

She watched, keeping very still and trying to slow her racing heart as the Sky-People retrieved the injured boy, and wrapped up the panther to take it with them. Her heart wasn’t racing from the presence of the panther, but from the gunshots that had shattered the stillness of the forest. The panther was a part of these woods, a proud hunter, but guns with their noise and smoke and smell of hot metal had no place here. Nothing good ever came from those who used guns.

Once the Sky-People had cleared out, Teresa climbed down from the tree. She moved cautiously into the clearing, to the spot where the Wells had dropped the gun when he was done with it. Teresa knew that the bullets in a gun were what tore through armour and flesh, and that this one had no more bullets. It was useless now, that’s why they’d left it. She looked curiously at the foreign weapon but made no move to pick it up, or even get too close. No Trikru ever took up a gun. Teresa and her friends had all heard legend that told if any tree-person picked up a gun, Mount Weather would wipe out their whole village with their bombs. She would not be the one to bring that kind of devastation on Tondc.

 _Emo na bilaik Maunon?_ (Will they be like the Mountain Men?) Teresa wondered with uncertainty.

Her mission to keep watch on the strangers suddenly felt more ominous, more urgent. The Sky-People spoke the enemy’s language, and they used weapons and technology like the Mountain Men. Would they be the bringers of death as well?

* * *

 

Darkness had fallen over the mountains; the moon and stars cast their light over the forest.

Lincoln crept closer to the Sky-People’s camp and perched on a branch of a tree at the edge of the camp where the firelight would not reach him so that he could watch the strangers unseen. Campfires dotted the ground beneath him. Looking down he saw that the Sky-People were spread throughout their camp, talking with each other and enjoying the meal that they’d made of the panther that their search party had returned with.

They were unaware of his presence. Good. As he’d done with other potential enemies of his tribe he was to remain hidden and observe, to learn what he could about these strangers.

Seeing their ship fall from the sky had brought back memories for him. He tried to push it away but the memory was persistent, pressing against his mind, demanding attention. Their ship…He’d seen something like it before, years ago…

As he observed the camp, Lincoln didn’t have to look behind him to know that he was no longer alone in his watch. Teresa crept up behind him, moving as silently as a shadow as he’d taught her, and settled on a branch to his side.

Lincoln knew why his sister wanted to be a scout: she had a drive to learn, to know more, and was never satisfied until the many questions she had were answered (which meant that she was rarely satisfied). He had his concerns about Teresa taking on this mission, or any scouting mission really. She could be impulsive, and it sometimes made her reckless. But he’d also seen the look in her eye when she first saw these strangers, that gleam of curiosity that would not be tampered by anything. He knew that look. It was what prompted him to speak to their war chief Anya about sending Teresa on this task with him. It was better that she was where he could keep an eye on her than if she was left to herself and her curiosity got her into trouble – the kind of trouble that he couldn’t protect her from this time. And not just her. Her twin brother Benjamin was far less reckless and he knew how to mind his place, but still he would follow Teresa into just about anything.

Beneath his mask, Lincoln smiled for a moment. The twins reminded him of how he and his sister Michonne had been when they were children. She was older than him, but as children they had been inseparable. Michonne was far away now though; her travels took her beyond the mountain territories. The twins were not children anymore. Any indiscretion or misstep that they made would not be overlooked. Teresa was smart and skilled – she learned well when she listened – but she lacked patience, discipline…

“Where’s my knife?!”

“I didn’t touch your knife!”

…and restraint! Lincoln looked over at his sister as she examined the knife she’d taken from one of the strangers, thankfully without being seen. She wasn’t wearing her mask and she looked over at him and grinned. He shook his head. She’d almost been seen by one of the Sky-People the night before when she ventured too close, yet still she took chances.

In the camp below them, two boys had started fighting with each other about the missing knife while others cheered them on. These sky-children seemed to be more of a danger to each other than to his people. However, if it turned out that they presented a danger in the Clan’s territory, Lincoln knew that his leaders would most likely have them wiped out. But so far, he hadn’t seen any reason for that to happen. And truth be told, he hoped that it wouldn’t. Teresa was not the only one who wanted to know more. For now, though, his job was simply to remain hidden, learn what he could, and keep watch on these Sky-People. And on his sister. Teresa definitely needed someone to keep an eye on her.

* * *

 

 

Teresa’s boots splashed through the shallow water of a stream as she ran. The sun was high overhead and she was running for her life as the horn sounded through the trees. She didn’t know if it was Lincoln blowing the horn or some other scout in the area but it didn’t really matter; all that mattered was getting to shelter. The horn meant the fog was coming, and the fog meant death. A very painful death.

She was running hard when she saw it, a glimpse out of the corner of her eyes of the swirling noxious yellow mass creeping through the trees, getting closer. Teresa didn’t pause and she didn’t look back. Her fear gave her speed as she ran. Shelter – her brother’s cave home was within reach if she was fast enough… But the fog and its burning poison was almost on her, the first tendrils of it stinging at the exposed skin of her hands and at her eyes, making them water. She ran through the pain.

_“Teri!”_

Teresa looked ahead half-blind through streaming eyes when she heard Lincoln calling her.

 _“Linkon!”_ she called out to her brother as she ran towards his voice. He was there next to the hidden entrance to his home waiting for her before getting himself to shelter. She practically dived through the opening in the ground that led to his cave and then moved quickly out of the way as Lincoln jumped down after her just before the acid fog swept over the ground he’d just been standing on.

Out of the fog, Teresa’s eyes continued to burn and she squeezed them shut, putting her hand against the stone wall to feel her way through the passage. She took two unsteady steps before her brother picked her up as though she was a child and carried her. And though normally she would have objected to him treating her like a child, at the moment she was too afraid and hurt by the burning in her eyes to do anything more than accept her big brother’s help.

As Lincoln set her down on some soft furs, Teresa tried to rub at the sharp stinging in her eyes but Lincoln caught her hands and held them down.

“Let me see,” he said. Teresa opened her eyes slowly, though it hurt more than keeping them closed. Her vision was clouded and she could see only the hazy shape of her brother. “Don’t touch them,” he warned her as he let go of her hands and moved away.

Teresa closed her eyes again and tried to take even breaths to slow her racing heart and push back the pain. Lincoln returned and Teresa could smell the tang of healing herbs as he set them down in front of her. He helped Teresa wash out her eyes before dripping some medicine from a small bottle into them. He then told her to keep her eyes closed so that they could heal while he tended to her other wounds. Her coat and hood had mostly protected her, but the burns on her hands needed to be treated. The pain in her eyes had distracted her from it, but she felt the burning on her hands intensify as Lincoln rubbed an herb mixture over them. After a minute, the pain dulled as the medicine began to sooth the wounds and Lincoln put her hands to soak in a bowl of water. The herbs and warm water would draw the burning poison out of her skin.

This was the first that Teresa had ever been caught out in the open when the warning was sounded. The fog was a horrible way to die. It was an enemy that you could not fight or defend against; you could only run and hide from it, which in a way made it more terrifying than marching into a battle. She’d seen a warrior who was blinded by acid fog once, his eyes too badly burned for the healer’s treatments to cure them. Her burns were not nearly that severe; she’d been in the fog less than a minute. But still…the thought scared her.

Teresa carried her own medicines with her, and she knew these simple remedies that Lincoln used as well as her brother did (and a few that Lincoln didn’t know, from her lessons with Nyko). It was part of a scout’s training; they had to be prepared to fend for themselves away from the village. Teresa could have worked through the pain and treated her wounds herself – she knew she could, and Lincoln knew that she could – but she let her brother take care of her. His rough hands were gentle as he treated her and his steady voice soothed her fear. He was always there to take care of her when she needed him…

Even when she didn’t need him.

* * *

 

Looking up through the hole in the high roof of the cave, Teresa could see the hazy swirl of the fog overhead. Half the night was gone and her eyes had mostly cleared (though they still irritated), but the fog hadn’t yet. It blanketed the forest above, blocking the moonlight that would have trickled into the cave, but thankfully it did not drift down through the small opening. The fire that Lincoln had started to warm some food for them was now down to embers that did little to alleviate the oppressive darkness above.

“Watching it won’t make it go away faster,” Lincoln said from where he was lying on his back on a bed of furs. Teresa smiled – even in sleep he watched out for her. He was right, she shouldn’t dwell on things that she couldn’t change.

The fog came from Mount Weather. It was sent by the Mountain Men to kill anyone who trespassed too close to that cursed place, turning the very air into a weapon. The fog did not reach as far as Tondc or any of the other villages, but it was one of the reasons that some scouts lived away from their villages. They were placed to watch for danger and sound the warning when it came, as Lincoln had done with his fog horn.

She spotted the fog horn where he’d set it down on the table with his other things, including his book. Unable to sleep, Teresa moved to the table and picked up Lincoln’s book. She sat and looked through it by the light of the dying fire. Her brother had made drawings of landmarks, people, animals or anything else that caught his interest for a moment. There was a picture of the statue near their village, a place that was used to settle disputes; a great tree that had a boat stuck high up in its branches – that tree was on the other side of the lake; there were also sketches of Mountain Men in their strange masks shrouded in smoke, and (Teresa shuddered at these) Reapers.

There were also drawings he’d made while they watched the Sky-People. He’d drawn an outline of the camp they’d started building around their ship, and made a tally of how many of them there were. One hundred and one marks on the page, with two of them crossed out for the two that had been carried from their ship and buried.

Teresa had her own book with her sketches of the thing and people she’d seen while watching the strangers’ camp, sketches of the ones she’d seen on their scouting trips. Teresa listened in on the Sky-People when she could get close enough to hear without being seen. They talked about their home in the sky, a place they called the Ark. Once she’d heard one of them mention different stations that made the Ark. Was the Ark a coalition? Were the different Stations like different Clans?

She’d learned that the boy Wells, his father was the leader on their Ark. Indra was the Chief of the Woods Clan, the Ice Nation had their Queen, but the leader of the Sky-People was someone called a ‘Chancellor’. That word was unfamiliar. She wondered why Wells was not a leader. He looked like he could be. But it also looked like many of the others didn’t like him much.

The bossy girl, Clarke, she was a healer – they called her a ‘doctor’. She’d been caring for the injured boy, Jasper, inside their ship.

The one they called ‘Spacewalker’, his name was Finn. Teresa had heard another sky-person call his name as he left their camp. He liked to explore at night, which was very stupid of him, especially since she never saw him with a weapon.

Unlike the girl called Emily. She liked to explore too, but she always had a sword with her. Teresa had seen her training with some of the others in their camp. The way she fought, Teresa would guess that she was one of their warriors, though her fighting style was very different from what Teresa had been taught.

Then there was also Bellamy, the one who’d made himself their leader. And the girl called Octavia who was his sister. Teresa had overheard other Sky-People talking about them. From the way they talked, it sounded like having a brother or sister was a bad thing. They’d used words like ‘illegal’ and ‘unregistered’ when talking about Octavia. Teresa didn’t know exactly what it meant, but she thought they were probably lucky Bellamy did not hear them. He seemed very protective of his sister – a lot like Lincoln was with Teresa actually. Teresa had two brothers, one of them her twin, and two sisters. She wondered what the Sky-People would think of that.

Another page in Lincoln’s book showed a sketch of that girl, Octavia. She’d been the first one to step out of their ship, before all the others. Lincoln must have drawn her then, when they first saw the strangers land.

“Why’d you draw this?” she asked. The book was suddenly snatched out of her hands.

“You should learn not to take things that aren’t yours,” said Lincoln, sounding annoyed. “Try to get some sleep.”

Teresa rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. When she and Benjamin were younger, they used to play at hiding things for their older siblings to find. Lincoln had never liked that game; he said that it would get her into trouble if she wasn’t careful.

Though Lincoln tried to teach her to exercise caution, Teresa’s curiosity often won out. And Sky-People were definitely something to be curious about. These strangers held stories about a place she never imagined existed outside of old stories about the forsakers who left the Earth generations ago when _Praimfaya_ swept over the world. Some legends told that the Great Burning happened after a long time of war, a war that had covered the whole world, and that _Praimfaya_ cleansed the Earth of the weak so that the strong could survive.

Teresa didn’t know how much of the legends were true, or if she believed them. She’d never given them much thought. Old stories didn’t interest her; she liked learning about things that were real, here and now.

She always liked to learn new things. When her sister Michonne came back from her travels, Teresa would always bombard her with question about where she’d been and what she’d seen. Michonne never stayed in their mountains long, but she would always satisfy her sister’s curiosity, telling her tales about other Clans or nomads that she’d met, forests that were different from theirs, more jungle than wood, or some of the islands across the sea. And she brought things back with her from these places, gifts for her brothers and sisters.

Then Michonne would leave again. Their other sister Senshi disapproved of Michonne’s wondering. Senshi thought that she should stay where she belonged, in her own Clan. The problem was Michonne did not feel she belonged in the Woods Clan – and she had her reasons. Teresa missed her every time she left. But she knew that her eldest sister would be back. Michonne did not settle anywhere; she always came back…at least for a while.

Teresa wondered where Michonne was now. The next time her sister came back, Teresa would be the one with a new story to tell. Strangers from the sky…that was something Michonne had never seen.

* * *

 

Lincoln looked over Teresa as she slept. She slept peacefully now, despite her close encounter with the fog. She was lucky not to be seriously hurt, lucky she hadn’t been killed. If she’d hesitated when she heard the horn, or hadn’t been fast enough, or been unable to run through the pain when the fog started burning her…

Lincoln shook off these thoughts. She was here and she was safe…for the moment anyway. The life of a warrior was never truly safe. It was a harsh reality that they all had to face. Teresa was resilient. She trained hard and, despite her tendency to distraction, she learned diligently. Lincoln knew that Teresa still had a lot of growing up to do. But at the same time, he wished that his youngest sister would not have to grow up so quickly.

As the eldest, Michonne had been hard pressed by their father into the life of a warrior, to never show weakness in anything, which meant that she’d never had the luxury of indulging in childhood games. Senshi had started growing cold when she was very young and now she was one of the Rangers, a unit of warriors chosen from different villages who operated under The Commander’s direct orders. She was one of the youngest of their ranks, but she’d earned her place there.

The twins, though they’d been in battle and had to spill blood before, still had a light inside of them that had already been bled out of their older siblings by the lives they’d lived. There was innocence in them that Lincoln wished he could shelter, innocence that once lost could never be regained. But he could not shelter them. Maybe when they were children, but not anymore. Teri and Benjin had to grow strong to survive the world they lived in. That was the way of their people.

Lincoln pulled a blanket over her and smiled slightly as Teresa sighed in her sleep and curled up under the cover. She was still so small. To his eyes, she was still a child – the little girl who talked a mile a minute and asked incessant questions and was too curious for her own good – and though it wouldn’t do her any favours for him to treat her like a child, she would always be his little sister. It was his job to watch out for her. And to teach her to watch out for herself.

* * *

 

 

Teresa didn’t like that the Sky-People had been hunting so close to her brother’s home, but she wasn’t overly concerned about it either. The entrance to Lincoln’s cave was so well hidden that even _Trikru_ might walk past it without realizing that it was there if they didn’t already know about it.

Now, looking down at the sky-boy, one of their hunting party who’d been caught out in the acid fog, she felt no animosity towards this stranger – only pity. He must have lain there all night as it burned him, as it seared every inch of his skin, yet somehow, he was still alive. That he still lived showed his strength, a warrior’s strength, but sadly that strength was wasted and had only caused him more pain. There was no way to save him. It would have been better if he’d died in the night, even if that meant he died alone. Every inch of the boy’s skin was coloured an angry red, burned and blistered. His eyes were clouded with white film, blinded by the fog. The fog truly was a terrible way to die, made all the more terrible by the fact that the boy had survived it. That just made his death all the slower in coming, needlessly drawing out his agony.

As Teresa crouched down close to him, he turned his head towards her – that small move made his face contort in an agonized grimace. He couldn’t see her, but he knew that someone was there. Whether it was another Sky-Person of one of the people he called ‘grounders’ mattered little to him now.

“Please…” he managed to gasp out in a strangled whisper. His chest moved spastically with his ragged, labourious breathing. He could scarcely draw the breath to speak. But Teresa knew what he was asking for: an end to his pain. When Teresa had first started learning from Nyko in the healer’s hut, one of the first things he’d taught her was a very hard, but very important lesson: that no healer could save everyone. They saved those who could be saved.

And those who could not be saved… “ _Yu gonplie ste odon_ (Your fight is over),” Teresa whispered softly as she pulled out a small knife.

A sudden scream stilled her hand. She looked up to a nearby rise to see a young sky-girl, younger than Teresa, looking down at her. It would have been hard to say what scared the girl more: Teresa in her dark leather and her mask, or the sight of the dying boy with his skin all but melted. Teresa didn’t bother to find out. Where there was one sky-person, there would likely be others. She ran and disappeared into the trees, just as she heard the others coming, drawn by the girl’s screams.

“Atom!” It was one of their leaders, Bellamy. He ran to the sky-boy who was burned by the fog and knelt down next to him.

“There was a grounder!” the young girl told him.

They all looked to the trees in the direction that the young girl pointed – but they were looking at ground level, and Teresa had already climbed high once she’d gotten under cover. She held still, blending in well with the trees; she knew that they couldn’t see her. And they didn’t try to go after her. Perhaps they assumed she was already gone.

You would think that people who fell from the sky might think to look up more often.

From just beyond the tree line, the young scout watched as Bellamy turned his attention back to the boy on the ground. He leaned in close and Teresa knew that the boy – Atom – was making the same plea that he’d made of her: To stop the pain, end his suffering…to kill him.

This was better, Teresa thought. At least now that his friends had found him he would not have to die alone.

“Head back to camp,” she heard Bellamy ordered the others.

The other hunters cast dismal looks at their dying friend and did what they were told. The little girl hesitated. Getting a better look at her now, Teresa thought that the young sky-girl reminded her a bit of Tris. They were about the same age and size, though Tris had a far more hardened look to her.

Bellamy spoke to her, too quietly for Teresa to hear, and she too turned and left. And now just two were left with Atom: Bellamy and Thalia. These two were rivals – Teresa had seen how they clashed over control of their camp. But now they shared the same grief.

Bellamy held a knife in his hand. Teresa’s keen eyes, the eyes of a hunter, could see the tremor in his hand as he held the knife, unsure, as if he didn’t know what to do with it. He was hesitant to do what needed to be done; he did not want to end the life of one of his own…even if it was the only mercy that he could grant his friend.

Thalia suddenly tensed and drew her own knife, but then just as quickly relaxed and Teresa looked to see what had startled her. Intent on the scene before her, Teresa hadn’t noticed that more people had approached. It was Clarke. Others followed behind the blonde healer, but they hung back. It seemed like many Sky-People had been out and about when the fog hit. They were lucky if Atom was the only one they lost this day.

“I heard screams,” said Clarke.

“Charlotte found him. I sent her back to camp,” said Bellamy.

Clarke joined them around Atom and looked him over with a healer’s eye while the other’s watched, waiting for her word. Clarke shook her head. She knew what Teresa knew – that there was no hope for Atom. The only one thing they could do.

Teresa watched as Clarke took the knife from Bellamy’s hand. She smoothed down the hair on Atom’s forehead as she brought the knife to his neck. One quick precise cut across the artery in his neck – his blood would flow quickly; it would take him only a minute or two to die. Clarke continued running her hand gently over his hair, humming to him softly while they waited for him to die.

As they waited, a small movement caught Teresa’s attention. Standing hidden from the others in a spot that allowed her to see what was happening without being seen was the little sky-girl, Charlotte. Something about her held Teresa’s attention. The girl had reminded her of Tris before – Tris, who was the apprentice of the chief of their village, and had seen battle at a younger age than most and had already been somewhat hardened by it. That resemblance was more pronounced now as Charlotte watched Atom’s life blood bleed out of him.

The other Sky-People put together a stretched to carry their fallen friend back to their camp. They would bury him with the other’s who’d died and grieve in whatever way the Sky-People grieved. Teresa did not move for some time as she thought over what she’d seen. It was a terrible thing to have to kill one of your own, terrible in a way that you did not find in battle. It took a different kind of strength. Teresa had already learned that from Nyko, and the lesson still weighed on her.

These Sky-People were strangers, intruders, invaders. They were not _Trikru_. They were not warriors. They spoke the enemy’s language, had strange technology, and use weapons that were forbidden. They were unknown, which was enough to make them a threat.

But perhaps, in some ways…they were not so different.

* * *

 

**Translations**

_Skaikru_ – Sky-People

 _Trigedakru_ – People of the Woods

 _Emo na bilaik Maunon?_ – Will they be like the Mountain Men?

 _Praimfaya_ – The Great Burning; The nuclear apocalypse that ended the world

 _Yu gonplie ste odon_ – Your fight is over

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)  
> Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of Teresa and her story and if you want to see it continue.


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